Zero to Hero: Peter the Hero

The pastor delivered this sermon in the anointing of the Holy Spirit.  Notes cannot do justice to the delivery.  Trying to hit some of the high points.

The basis for the message is the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles.

Pentecost Sunday.  Something miraculous happened.  God took a bunch of scrawny, weak, not smart enough people and made them the Church, made them different.

Last week we saw Peter, a nothing who ran his mouth, who denied the Christ, who was a Zero.  Now he is not the same guy. He is something different.  He has something of worth to say.  Peter preaches, 3000 people are converted.  He is now a Hero.

Tongues of fire rested upon the people, each heard the message in his own language.  The people were amazed and perplexed.  What does this mean?  The same power of the Holy Spirit that came upon Peter is available to us today.  The Holy Spirit was the Difference Maker on the Day of Pentecost.

The Holy Spirit is the Difference Maker today.

We must understand that without the Holy Spirit there is no church, or at best only an ugly, powerless, wicked church.

Without the Holy Spirit, we could not live our lives in Christ.  We would still be feebly trying to serve God, yet with no capacity to do so.

What does Pentecost mean to us today?
What we need in the church is the Fire of the Holy Spirit.

There could have been the cross and the resurrection and yet no Pentecost.
There could have been no Pentecost without the cross and the resurrection!

When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will do Christ-like things naturally.

What is the purpose of the Holy Spirit?  What will the Holy Spirit do in us and for us?

1. He will purge us.  The Holy Spirit will make us wholly pure before God, rid us of our desire for sin.  He purifies, sanctifies.
2. The Holy Spirit will fill us.  The bad is replaced with the good.  We will produce the fruit of the Spirit.  Do you display the fruits of the Spirit?  The joy of the Lord is not dependent upon circumstances.
3. He will empower us.  He makes Christ's mission possible.  The Holy Spirit is The Difference Maker. 

The anointing of the Holy Spirit is crucial to the message of Christ.

The Holy Spirit enables us to live the way Christ called us to live.

Your life is to be so overwhelmed with the Holy Spirit that those who come in contact with you come in contact with the Holy Spirit.

Pastor Johnnie Blair

Sunday morning

Pentecost Sunday 2015